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Bonato G, Goodman S, Tjh L. Physiological and performance effects of live high train low altitude training for elite endurance athletes: A narrative review. Curr Res Physiol 2023; 6:100113. [PMID: 38107789 PMCID: PMC10724230 DOI: 10.1016/j.crphys.2023.100113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Altitude training has become an important training application for athletes due its potential for altering physiology and enhancing performance. This practice is commonly used by athletes, with a popular choice being the live high - train low approach. This model recommends that athletes live at high altitude (1250-3000 m), but train at low altitude or sea-level (0-1200 m). Exposure to altitude often leads to hypoxic stress and in turn stimulates changes in total haemoglobin mass, erythropoietin, and soluble transferrin receptors, which alter further underlying physiology. Through enhanced physiology, improved exercise performance may arise through enhancement of the oxygen transport system which is important for endurance events. Previous investigations into the effects of altitude training on exercise performance have been completed in a range of contexts, including running, cycling, swimming, and triathlon. Often following a LHTL altitude intervention, athletes realise improvements in maximal oxygen consumption capacity, time trial performance and peak power outputs. Although heterogeneity exists among LHTL methodologies, i.e., exposure durations and altitude ranges, we synthesised this data into kilometre hours, and found that the most common hypoxic doses used in LHTL interventions ranged from ∼578-687 km h. As this narrative review demonstrates, there are potential advantages to using altitude training to enhance physiology and improve performance for endurance athletes.
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Affiliation(s)
- G. Bonato
- Exercise and Sports Science, School of Science and Technology, The University of New England, Armidale, 2350, Australia
- College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811, Australia
| | - S.P.J Goodman
- Exercise and Sports Science, School of Science and Technology, The University of New England, Armidale, 2350, Australia
| | - Lathlean Tjh
- Exercise and Sports Science, School of Science and Technology, The University of New England, Armidale, 2350, Australia
- The Adelaide Medical School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5000, Australia
- South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Adelaide, 5000, Australia
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Research on the Physiological Monitoring and Evaluation of Pre-Competition Altitude Training for Zhejiang Elite Swimmers. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH 2021. [DOI: 10.5334/paah.91] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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Mujika I, Sharma AP, Stellingwerff T. Contemporary Periodization of Altitude Training for Elite Endurance Athletes: A Narrative Review. Sports Med 2020; 49:1651-1669. [PMID: 31452130 DOI: 10.1007/s40279-019-01165-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Since the 1960s there has been an escalation in the purposeful utilization of altitude to enhance endurance athletic performance. This has been mirrored by a parallel intensification in research pursuits to elucidate hypoxia-induced adaptive mechanisms and substantiate optimal altitude protocols (e.g., hypoxic dose, duration, timing, and confounding factors such as training load periodization, health status, individual response, and nutritional considerations). The majority of the research and the field-based rationale for altitude has focused on hematological outcomes, where hypoxia causes an increased erythropoietic response resulting in augmented hemoglobin mass. Hypoxia-induced non-hematological adaptations, such as mitochondrial gene expression and enhanced muscle buffering capacity may also impact athletic performance, but research in elite endurance athletes is limited. However, despite significant scientific progress in our understanding of hypobaric hypoxia (natural altitude) and normobaric hypoxia (simulated altitude), elite endurance athletes and coaches still tend to be trailblazers at the coal face of cutting-edge altitude application to optimize individual performance, and they already implement novel altitude training interventions and progressive periodization and monitoring approaches. Published and field-based data strongly suggest that altitude training in elite endurance athletes should follow a long- and short-term periodized approach, integrating exercise training and recovery manipulation, performance peaking, adaptation monitoring, nutritional approaches, and the use of normobaric hypoxia in conjunction with terrestrial altitude. Future research should focus on the long-term effects of accumulated altitude training through repeated exposures, the interactions between altitude and other components of a periodized approach to elite athletic preparation, and the time course of non-hematological hypoxic adaptation and de-adaptation, and the potential differences in exercise-induced altitude adaptations between different modes of exercise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iñigo Mujika
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Odontology, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Basque Country, Spain. .,Exercise Science Laboratory, School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago, Chile.
| | - Avish P Sharma
- Griffith Sports Physiology and Performance, School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.,Triathlon Australia, Burleigh Heads, QLD, Australia
| | - Trent Stellingwerff
- Canadian Sport Institute-Pacific, Victoria, BC, Canada.,Department of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
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Bejder J, Nordsborg NB. Specificity of “Live High-Train Low” Altitude Training on Exercise Performance. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 2018; 46:129-136. [DOI: 10.1249/jes.0000000000000144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Hauser A, Troesch S, Saugy JJ, Schmitt L, Cejuela-Anta R, Faiss R, Steiner T, Robinson N, Millet GP, Wehrlin JP. Individual hemoglobin mass response to normobaric and hypobaric "live high-train low": A one-year crossover study. J Appl Physiol (1985) 2017; 123:387-393. [PMID: 28522767 DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00932.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2016] [Revised: 05/12/2017] [Accepted: 05/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to compare individual hemoglobin mass (Hbmass) changes following a live high-train low (LHTL) altitude training camp under either normobaric hypoxia (NH) or hypobaric hypoxia (HH) conditions in endurance athletes. In a crossover design with a one-year washout, 15 male triathletes randomly performed two 18-day LHTL training camps in either HH or NH. All athletes slept at 2,250 meters and trained at altitudes <1,200 meters. Hbmass was measured in duplicate with the optimized carbon monoxide rebreathing method before (pre) and immediately after (post) each 18-day training camp. Hbmass increased similarly in HH (916-957 g, 4.5 ± 2.2%, P < 0.001) and in NH (918-953 g, 3.8 ± 2.6%, P < 0.001). Hbmass changes did not differ between HH and NH (P = 0.42). There was substantial interindividual variability among subjects to both interventions (i.e., individual responsiveness or the individual variation in the response to an intervention free of technical noise): 0.9% in HH and 1.7% in NH. However, a correlation between intraindividual ΔHbmass changes (%) in HH and in NH (r = 0.52, P = 0.048) was observed. HH and NH evoked similar mean Hbmass increases following LHTL. Among the mean Hbmass changes, there was a notable variation in individual Hbmass response that tended to be reproducible.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first study to compare individual hemoglobin mass (Hbmass) response to normobaric and hypobaric live high-train low using a same-subject crossover design. The main findings indicate that hypobaric and normobaric hypoxia evoked a similar mean increase in Hbmass following 18 days of live high-train low. Notable variability and reproducibility in individual Hbmass responses between athletes was observed, indicating the importance of evaluating individual Hbmass response to altitude training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Hauser
- Swiss Federal Institute of Sport, Section for Elite Sport, Magglingen, Switzerland; .,Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Department of Physiology, Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Severin Troesch
- Swiss Federal Institute of Sport, Section for Elite Sport, Magglingen, Switzerland
| | - Jonas J Saugy
- Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Department of Physiology, Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Laurent Schmitt
- National School of Mountain Sports/National Ski-Nordic Centre, Prémanon, France
| | - Roberto Cejuela-Anta
- Departmental Section of Physical Education and Sports, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain; and
| | - Raphael Faiss
- Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Department of Physiology, Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Steiner
- Swiss Federal Institute of Sport, Section for Elite Sport, Magglingen, Switzerland
| | - Neil Robinson
- Swiss Laboratory for Doping Analyses, University Center of Legal Medicine, Geneva & Lausanne, Center Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois & University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Grégoire P Millet
- Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Department of Physiology, Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jon P Wehrlin
- Swiss Federal Institute of Sport, Section for Elite Sport, Magglingen, Switzerland
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Live-high train-low improves repeated time-trial and Yo-Yo IR2 performance in sub-elite team-sport athletes. J Sci Med Sport 2016; 20:190-195. [PMID: 27142233 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2015.12.518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2015] [Revised: 12/14/2015] [Accepted: 12/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To determine the efficacy of live-high train-low on team-sport athlete physical capacity and the time-course for adaptation. DESIGN Pre-post parallel-groups. METHODS Fifteen Australian footballers were matched for Yo-Yo Intermittent recovery test level 2 (Yo-YoIR2) performance and assigned to LHTL (n=7) or control (Con; n=8). LHTL spent 19 nights (3×5 nights, 1×4 nights, each block separated by 2 nights at sea level) at 3000-m simulated altitude (FIO2: 0.142). Yo-Yo IR2 was performed pre and post 5, 15, and 19 nights. A 2- and 1-km time-trial (TT) was performed pre and post intervention. Haemoglobin mass (Hbmass) was measured in LHTL after 5, 10, 15, and 19 nights. A contemporary statistical approach using effect size, confidence limits, and magnitude-based inferences was used to measure changes between groups. RESULTS Compared to pre, Hbmass was possibly higher after 15 (3.8%, effect size (ES) 0.19, 90% confidence limits 0.05-0.33) and very likely higher after 19 nights (6.7%, 0.35, 0.10; 0.52). For Yo-Yo IR2, LHTL group change was not meaningfully different to Con after 5 nights, possibly greater after 15 (10.2%, 0.37, -0.29; 1.04), and likely greater after 19 nights (13.5%, 0.49, -0.16; 1.14). Both groups improved 2-km TT, with LHTL improvement possibly higher than CON (1.9%, 0.22, -0.18; 0.62). Only LHTL improved 1-km TT, with LHTL improvement likely greater than CON (4.6%, 0.56, -0.08; 1.04). CONCLUSIONS Fifteen nights of LHTL was possibly effective, while 19 nights was effective at increasing Hbmass, Yo-Yo IR2 and repeated TT performance more than sea-level training.
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Bonne TC, Lundby C, Jørgensen S, Johansen L, Mrgan M, Bech SR, Sander M, Papoti M, Nordsborg NB. “Live High–Train High” increases hemoglobin mass in Olympic swimmers. Eur J Appl Physiol 2014; 114:1439-49. [DOI: 10.1007/s00421-014-2863-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2013] [Accepted: 02/26/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Turner G, Pringle JSM, Ingham SA, Fudge BW, Richardson AJ, Maxwell NS. The influence of carbon monoxide bolus on the measurement of total haemoglobin mass using the optimized CO-rebreathing method. Physiol Meas 2014; 35:N11-9. [DOI: 10.1088/0967-3334/35/2/n11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
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VANDENBOGAERDE TOMJ, HOPKINS WILLG, PYNE DAVIDB. A Competition-Based Design to Assess Performance of a Squad of Elite Athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2012; 44:2423-7. [DOI: 10.1249/mss.0b013e318267c029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Costa MJ, Bragada JA, Marinho DA, Silva AJ, Barbosa TM. Longitudinal Interventions in Elite Swimming. J Strength Cond Res 2012; 26:2006-16. [DOI: 10.1519/jsc.0b013e318257807f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Gough CE, Saunders PU, Fowlie J, Savage B, Pyne DB, Anson JM, Wachsmuth N, Prommer N, Gore CJ. Influence of altitude training modality on performance and total haemoglobin mass in elite swimmers. Eur J Appl Physiol 2012; 112:3275-85. [PMID: 22234397 DOI: 10.1007/s00421-011-2291-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2011] [Accepted: 12/13/2011] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
We compared changes in performance and total haemoglobin mass (tHb) of elite swimmers in the weeks following either Classic or Live High:Train Low (LHTL) altitude training. Twenty-six elite swimmers (15 male, 11 female, 21.4 ± 2.7 years; mean ± SD) were divided into two groups for 3 weeks of either Classic or LHTL altitude training. Swimming performances over 100 or 200 m were assessed before altitude, then 1, 7, 14 and 28 days after returning to sea-level. Total haemoglobin mass was measured twice before altitude, then 1 and 14 days after return to sea-level. Changes in swimming performance in the first week after Classic and LHTL were compared against those of Race Control (n = 11), a group of elite swimmers who did not complete altitude training. In addition, a season-long comparison of swimming performance between altitude and non-altitude groups was undertaken to compare the progression of performances over the course of a competitive season. Regardless of altitude training modality, swimming performances were substantially slower 1 day (Classic 1.4 ± 1.3% and LHTL 1.6 ± 1.6%; mean ± 90% confidence limits) and 7 days (0.9 ± 1.0% and 1.9 ± 1.1%) after altitude compared to Race Control. In both groups, performances 14 and 28 days after altitude were not different from pre-altitude. The season-long comparison indicated that no clear advantage was obtained by swimmers who completed altitude training. Both Classic and LHTL elicited ~4% increases in tHb. Although altitude training induced erythropoeisis, this physiological adaptation did not transfer directly into improved competitive performance in elite swimmers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clare E Gough
- Department of Physiology, Australian Institute of Sport, PO Box 176, Belconnen, Canberra, ACT, 2616, Australia.
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Abstract
It is possible to plan an altitude training (AT) period in such a way that the enhanced physical endurance obtained as a result of adaptation to hypoxia will appear and can be used to improve performance in competition. Yet finding rationales for usage of AT in highly trained swimmers is problematic. In practice AT, in its various forms, is still controversial, and an objective review of research concentrating on the advantages and disadvantages of AT has been presented in several scientific publications, including in no small part the observations of swimmers. The aim of this article is to review the various methods and present both the advantageous and unfavourable physiological changes that occur in athletes as a result of AT. Moreover, AT results in the sport of swimming have been collected. They include an approach towards primary models of altitude/hypoxic training: live high + train high, live high + train low, live low + train high, as well as subsequent methods: Intermittent Hypoxic Exposure (IHE) and Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT). Apnoea training, which is descended from freediving, is also mentioned, and which can be used with, or as a substitute for, the well-known IHE or IHT methods. In conclusion, swimmers who train using hypoxia may be among the best-trained athletes, and that even a slight improvement in physical endurance might result in the shortening of a swimming time in a given competition, and the achievement of a personal best, which is hard to obtain by normal training methods, when the personal results of the swimmer have reached a plateau.
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Costa MJ, Bragada JA, Mejias JE, Louro H, Marinho DA, Silva AJ, Barbosa TM. Tracking the performance, energetics and biomechanics of international versus national level swimmers during a competitive season. Eur J Appl Physiol 2011; 112:811-20. [PMID: 21674245 DOI: 10.1007/s00421-011-2037-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2010] [Accepted: 05/31/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to track and compare the changes of performance, energetic and biomechanical profiles of international (Int) and national (Nat) level swimmers during a season. Ten Portuguese male swimmers (four Int and six Nat level subjects) were evaluated on three different time periods (TP(1), TP(2), TP(3)) of the 2009-2010 season. Swimming performance was assessed based on official time's lists of the 200-m freestyle event. An incremental set of 7 × 200 m swims was applied to assess the energetic and biomechanical data. Measurements were made of: (1) velocity at the 4 mmol of lactate levels (V4), stroke index at V4 (SI@V4) and propelling efficiency at V4 (η (p)@V4), as energetic estimators; (2) stroke length at V4 (SL@V4) and stroke frequency at V4 (SF@V4), as biomechanical variables. The results demonstrated no significant variations in all variables throughout the season. The inter-group comparison pointed out higher values for Int swimmers, with statistical differences for the 200 m performance in all time periods. Near values of the statistical significance were demonstrated for the SI@V4 in TP(1) and TP(3). The tracking based on K values was high only for the SI@V4. It is concluded that a high stability can be observed for elite swimmers performance, energetic and biomechanical profiles throughout a single season. Int swimmers are able to maintain a higher energetic and biomechanical capacity than Nat ones at all times. The SI@V4 may be used as an indicator of performance variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mário J Costa
- Sport Sciences Department, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus Sta. Apolónia, Ap. 1101-75, 5300 Bragança, Portugal.
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Sightings edited by John W. Severinghaus. High Alt Med Biol 2010. [DOI: 10.1089/ham.2010.1123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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